Lougheed, on the other hand, had significant momentum going into the 1971 election, increasing his caucus from the six members elected in 1967 to ten, after two floor crossings and two by-election wins (one of which was Manning's riding). The collapse of the other opposition parties made the PCs the only credible challenger to the Socreds. Lougheed, with 46% of the popular vote, won 49 of the 75 seats in the legislature and formed a strong majority government.

Ironically, Social Credit garnered a record number of votes in this election compared to previous elections, which had been plagued by low turn-outs. The Socreds lost only a small share of their popular vote from 1967 and finished only five points behind the Tories. However, they were decimated due to the near-total collapse of their support in the province's two largest cities, Edmonton and Calgary. The Tories won every seat in Edmonton and all but five in Calgary. Due to the quirk of the first past the post system, which rewards the largest party and parties with a strong regional block, the Socreds saw their caucus cut in half, to 25 seats.

The defeat sent Social Credit into headlong decline. While it managed to stay in the legislature until 1982, it has never again been a significant force in Alberta politics.

The Liberal Party was shut out of the legislature. It had had no momentum going into the election. One Liberal, Bill Dickie, had crossed the floor to the PCs. Another, William Switzer, died in 1969. The remaining Liberal, Michael Maccagno, resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for federal parliament.

Alberta New Democratic Party leader Grant Notley was the only NDPer to win election. He sat as the only New Democrat in the legislature until 1982. Interstingly enough, 41 years later Grant's daughter, Rachel Notley would lead the NDP to victory over the Progressive Conservative party, ending it's 41 year rule.

Alberta voters also voted in a province-wide plebiscite whether or not to endorse a proposal to adopt daylight saving time (summer time). The proposal had been rejected by a very slim margin in 1967. This time however it passed with a wide margin of 61.37% of the vote.